A Pioneer in Elegant Lodging

Vintage Postcard Image of the Perry

In 1899, just four years after Petoskey was incorporated as a city, Dr. Norman J. Perry built the hotel after giving up his dental practice (a patient had died following a multiple tooth extraction). He operated the Perry until 1919, when it was purchased by Drs. John and George Reycraft. They intended to convert the Hotel into a hospital, but Petoskey’s city fathers felt there was such a demand for a year-round hotel that they convinced the brothers to build their hospital in another location.

The Doctors selected their nephew, D. Herbert Reycraft, as hotel manager. Under his direction the Perry Hotel became a lively center of attraction featuring a small orchestra during dinner and dances at least once a week. Its popularity demanded expansion, so the Reycrafts doubled the capacity to 300 guests when they added a four story, 46 room wing in 1926. Herbert Reycraft and his wife, Hazel, retired in 1961. The Reycrafts then sold the hotel to John Davis, at which time Davis made extensive improvements including the panoramic window which overlooks Little Traverse Bay from the dining room. Under his ownership, he changed the name to the Perry-Davis Hotel and operated the hotel until Alan Gornick purchased the hotel in the 1970s.

Stafford’s Hospitality purchased the Perry in 1989. We have undertaken extensive interior and exterior restoration to this historic landmark. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Sites as well as its State of Michigan counterpart. Of the 21 hotels in operation in 1900, the Perry Hotel is the only one still in operation today.